Managing Customers

What a customer is

A customer is a reusable profile for anyone you bill. Once created, you can attach them to estimates and invoices without re-entering their details, and StretchBooks uses their payment terms and currency as defaults.

What a customer profile holds

• Display name (required) — how the customer appears throughout StretchBooks.
• Company name — the legal or trading name, if different.
• Billing email — where invoices and, when enabled, online-payment links go.
• Phone.
• Tax number — the customer's tax/registration number for their records.
• Payment terms (days) — the default due window on their invoices (inherits your Settings default if blank).
• Currency — defaults to your base currency; override per customer.
• Billing address and Shipping address.
• Status — active, dormant, or archived.
• Notes — free-text internal notes.
• CRM contact link — connect the customer to a StretchCRM contact so the same business is one record across the suite.

Step-by-step: add a customer

1. Open the Customers tab and choose New.
2. Enter a Display name (for example Harbor & Vine Studio).
3. Add the Billing email and Phone.
4. Set Payment terms and Currency, or leave them to inherit your Settings defaults.
5. Add Tax number and addresses if you need them on documents.
6. Leave Status as active so you can bill them immediately.
7. Save.

Why status matters

Status controls whether a customer can be attached to documents you send:

• Active — usable everywhere, including on sent/issued invoices and estimates.
• Dormant — kept for history; not intended for new active billing.
• Archived — retired.

When you Send an invoice or estimate, StretchBooks requires an active customer. You can still build a Draft without a customer, but you must assign an active one before sending.

Worked example

Northlight Coaching signs a new client:

1. In Customers → New, add Harbor & Vine Studio, billing email ap@harborvine.example, terms 30, currency CAD.
2. Save. The customer is active.
3. In Invoices → New, the customer is now selectable, and the invoice defaults to net-30 in CAD.

Tips

• Always fill in the billing email — it's the address receipts and online-payment links use.
• Set payment terms per customer when a client has negotiated terms that differ from your default.
• Use dormant rather than deleting when a client goes quiet — you keep their invoice history and can reactivate later.
• Link to StretchCRM so your sales pipeline and your billing point at the same customer record.

FAQ

Can I bill a customer in a different currency? Yes. Set the customer's currency, or override the currency on the individual invoice.

What happens to invoices if I archive a customer? Existing invoices are unchanged and stay in your history and reports; you just can't attach the archived customer to new sent documents.

Do I have to create a customer before invoicing? You can start a Draft invoice without one, but you must attach an active customer before you Send it.